Archives for December 2012

“I believe Robert Graham has the ability to work with Republicans across this great state to strengthen this Party and to build on our successes.”

PHOENIX – Today, Russell Pearce, former Arizona Senate President and a tireless advocate of conservative principles, endorsed Robert Graham for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party.

“I wholeheartedly endorse Robert Graham for Chairman of the Arizona
Republican Party,” said Pearce. “As a consistent Constitutional conservative, I believe Robert Graham has the ability to work with Republicans across this great state to strengthen this Party and to build on our successes. I know that Robert Graham will work hard to make Arizona a more prosperous and safer state, and to put more Republicans in responsible leadership positions.”

“Russell Pearce’s service to Arizona and conservatism has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated,” said Graham. “I am grateful to have his endorsement, and I look forward to receiving his counsel on how to build a stronger Republican Party in Arizona. As your Chairman, I will fight to ensure that voices like Russell’s are heard and appreciated in our party.”

About Robert Graham

Robert Graham is a conservative activist and AZ business leader. He was a leader in the fight against taxes and the destruction of our party system, successfully working with the grassroots to defeat propositions 121 and 204 in the 2012 election. Congressman Trent Franks, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Arizona House Majority Leader David Gowan, Speaker Pro-Tempore JD Mesnard, Rep. Justin Olson, Rep. Steve Montenegro, Maricopa County Chairman Rob Haney, and numerous Arizona conservative leaders have endorsed Graham to lead the Arizona GOP.

The following open letter is circulating on Facebook by a reputable source. We ask that you read the letter, circulate it and then contact Bank of America and tell them you will no longer do business with them. We also ask that you support American Spirit Arms based in Scottsdale. (Thanks to Todd Rathner for bringing it to our attention.)

My name is Joe Sirochman owner of American Spirit Arms and I wanted to share my recent experience with Bank of America (which we have been doing business with for over 10 years). Everyone is familiar with the latest increase in guns sales , dealers selling out of inventory , Manufacturers back logged for months, large revenue all generated in the last two weeks . American Spirit Arms is no exception to the overwhelming demand. What we have experienced is that our web site orders have jumped 500% causing our web site E commerce processing larger Deposits to BANK OF AMERICA. Well, this threw up a huge RED Flag with Bank of America. So they decided to hold the deposits for further review, meaning that the orders/payments that were coming in through the web, (being paid by the customer and that were shipped out by American Spirit Arms ), the BANK was keeping (UNDER REVIEW ). As you could imagine this made me furious. After countless hours on the phone with BANK OF AMERICA I finally got a Manager in the right department that told me the reason that the deposits were on hold for FURTHER REVIEW – HER EXACT WORDS WERE, “WE BELIEVE YOU SHOULD NOT BE SELLING GUNS and PARTS ON THE INTERNET.”

I flipped the F**k Out and told them that they have no right to make up their own new rules and regs – that we are a firearms manufacturer with all the proper licensing FFL (Federal Firearm license ), SOT and that we follow all Federal and all states’ rules and regulations on shipping firearms and parts and that we are also Audited by ATF and Homeland Security on a regular basis. She said that she understands that but that the deposits will be released After they have a chance to review and clear them. I told her that this was unacceptable and the those deposits (that were a week old by now ) needed to be released ASAP, that we are a small business and rely on the revenue to run and stay operational.

After that being said another manager got involved and released one of the deposits (to help out). So far to date after two weeks of sales only 1/3 of collected internet sales have been released. I am still pissed and looking for another bank and options.

I have spoken with Chairman Haney and he has directed that the election for January 9th be cancelled, and as a result, the results from the November 29th election will stand. This is due to the lawsuit filed by Paul Whetten, Robin Harris, John Giles, Barbara Abney, Traci Beagley, Dilworth C. Brinton Jr., Curtis Brown, Alayne Favreau, J. Glade Soelberg, Larry Winword, Brent Ellsworth, David Ricks, Colleen Wheeler, Drexden Davis, Brian Nissen, and Alan Soelberg. Chairman Haney indicated that the MCRC did not have the financial resources for a prolonged court battle. However, the lawsuit is an attack on the honor and integrity of each member of the committee.

I have been silent on the findings of the investigative committee because I have been working to insure that the next election would be fair and transparent, but now I feel duty bound to respond.

After the investigative committee reached its findings, I received two very different reactions from people. The first was to get to the bottom of what happened, how it happened, and who did it. The second reaction was an attack on the investigation, the methods used in the investigation, the members selected for the committee, and why the investigation was expanded to look at all aspects of the election.

This is not the first time that we have seen irregularity in our District’s election, so when you find irregularities in one area of an election, it makes only makes sense to examine the entire election. I have included some of the previous issues that I am personally aware of:

During the reorganization meeting in June, individuals were observed signing the witness section of proxy forms during the meeting.

During the Primary Election, an LLC known as the Liberty Education Project, created by Stephanie Butler, David Tolman and Ryan Wimmer, set up on April 27, 2012, funded a massive multicolor, political mailings for Precinct Committeeman Elections across multiple districts and precincts. This campaign had a serious effect on the outcome of the Precinct Committeeman elections. The major question about this activity is who funded it and why was so much money spent on PC elections.

The issues did not begin after LD-25 was formed; there were issues prior to that. In 2011, a group of LD-19 PCs filed a complaint with the Secretary of State’s office about questionable activities about a notary’s (Jonathon Lindblom) activities in LD-19s elections. While there were eight violations of Notary Law included in the Secretary of State’s response, the most significant to me was “The Notary executed a statement known to be false. A.R.S. §41-330 (A)(10).” I have attached a copy of the Secretary of State’s response to the complaint that was filed.

I would also like to discuss some of the aspects of the lawsuit.

One aspect was the lack of transparency of the investigation. Paul Whetten was part of the investigative committee and he is also a plaintiff on the lawsuit. How can a Plaintiff on a lawsuit claim lack of transparency when he was there for the entire investigation? I found it very interesting that at the end of the investigation, Paul indicated that we had done the right thing and at least he would be able to sleep at night.

There appears to be a huge fixation with Russell Pearce in the lawsuit. It makes it appear that everyone opposed to Paul and his team are all controlled by Russell Pearce. This is incorrect. Most of the other people on the ballot were Ron Paul supporters. This was one of their first attempts to get involved in local politics so they could make a difference in the future. Unfortunately, the New Times labeled these newcomers to politics as “The Slate of Hate” because of individuals from our district saying that they were being controlled by Russell Pearce.

The lawsuit indicated that no complaints were made about the election of the Board on the night of the election. This is true since no proxies had been examined yet. Based on the game playing that continually occurs in our District, it was suggested that the proxy forms be examined along with the signed interest forms. It was hoped, that unlike in past elections, no irregularities would be found. Unfortunately, this was not the case. What I did find concerning was the Sunday after the investigation was announced, Alan Soelberg sent an email wondering about where the proxies were and why they were not given to Paul. On Monday after the election, Paul requested that the proxies be delivered to him and that he would deliver them to Chairman Haney at the start of the investigation. My question is, if there was nothing to hide, why wouldn’t they want the forms delivered directly to Chairman Haney without the opportunity for any tampering?

The lawsuit also reports that Colleen Wheeler delivered approximately 135 Candidacy Declaration Forms (Interest forms). This represents over 30 percent of the 434 State Committeeman candidates were delivered by one person. Normally, it would be expected that these forms would be delivered by their Precinct Captain. Because there were significant irregularities with the forms, all of the forms for the January 9th election were tracked to determine who sent them. With this new process, 85 Candidacy Declaration Forms were received by December 22, 2012. This is a significant difference compared to the November 29th election.

This investigation produced some major disappointments for me.

First, I believed that Paul Whetten was an honest and ethical man who could be depended on to do the right thing. Unfortunately, a man is judged by his actions and not just his words.

Second, we cannot assume “positive intent” from our fellow Republicans in LD-25 or expect them to do the right things. Instead, I found a group of individuals that follow the principle “Win at Any Cost.” This group has extremely deep pockets and funded the lawsuit against the MCRC and also funded the Liberty Education Project to manipulate the election of PCs in LD-25.

Third, it is disappointing that the lawsuit will not be heard. I believe that a complete and independent investigation into all the LD-25 and former LD-18 and LD-19 elections will uncover a significant amount of unethical behavior.

Fourth, I am disappointed with the Precinct Committeemen in LD-25. If you are a PC that signed a proxy form without the witnesses present or in front of a notary, then you are a part of the problem. Each PC was elected to represent the Republicans in his or her precinct by attending District meetings, the County meeting and the State meeting. If you are not doing these items, you are not fulfilling your duty as an elected official.

Since I do not have deep pockets to fund multi-thousand dollar mailings or to file lawsuits that will require tens of thousands of dollar to defend against, a website is being set up to expose and document the irregularities in LD-25 www.ld25fraud.org. The website will contain information such as the lawsuit and other information related to irregularities in LD25.

Unfortunately, prior to the cancellation of the January 9th election, the call letter had already been sent out—following the Bylaws which requires 10 business days notification of a meeting. However, Paul sent out a call letter for a January 2nd election. This did not follow the LD-25 Bylaws, which requires 10 business days notification.

Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley will have to answer more questions about property deals and criminal charges than he wants to, according to the U.S. District Court judge presiding over his lawsuit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

Seven of the cases have been settled for amounts ranging from $75,000 to $975,000. (Payment of the latter to Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox is under dispute.)

Three remain involving retired Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe, because of criminal charges and a racketeering lawsuit filed against him, ostensibly as retaliation for court rulings and to prevent him from holding a court hearing over Thomas’ objections; Stapley, who was indicted twice alleging campaign-fund and disclosure crimes; and businessman Conley Wolfswinkel, whose offices were raided in a failed search for evidence against Stapley.

Stapley’s attorney, Michael Manning, had sought to limit evidence against Stapley to what was known at the time the indictments were filed. The intent is to keep defendants Thomas and Arpaio and their former deputies, Lisa Aubuchon and David Henderschott, from using this trial to try to prove the allegations they could not prove because the indictments were dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Neil Wake granted Manning’s motion but cautioned that certain evidence pertaining to Stapley’s reputation will be allowed at trial.

Among Stapley’s claims are that he was forced to sell certain property to pay his legal bills and that the criminal indictments tarnished his reputation.

But when Stapley faced the defendants’ attorneys in deposition earlier this month, Manning advised him not to answer questions about the property in question, which figured into the criminal charges against him, or about an analysis of the criminal charges done by Gila County Attorney Daisy Flores.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office had asked Flores to re-evaluate the evidence against Stapley. Flores wrote that there was indeed probable cause to charge Stapley with multiple felonies.

Late Friday, Wake ruled that the property was central to the case and that Stapley would have to answer questions.

Wake also ruled that even if Stapley didn’t want to answer questions about Flores’ opinion during the deposition, he would not be able to deny their content at trial. And if Stapley wanted to deny the allegations, he would have to explain why.

Robert Graham, candidate for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, addresses why preserving the Constitution of the United States of America is important. In simple terms, Robert shares a story of a family visit to Pearl Harbor and the impact this visit had on him and his family. This story, like many others addresses the relevancy, importance and strength bestowed upon this nation because of the miracle we call the Constitution of the United States of America. Robert Graham will fight to defend the Constitution and the principles which made this nation great.

So these celebrities put out a commercial asking Americans to Demand A Plan to end gun violence.

I agree.

Let’s have the right to protect ourselves and especially our children.

What I question is their sincerity and credibility.

I would bet that 90% of them have armed security at their concerts, filming locations and even public events. I would also bet that they don’t want armed security at our taxpayer-funded public schools for the protection of our children.

On their website, they are advocating for three things:

1. Require a criminal background check for every gun sold in America
2. Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
3. Make gun trafficking a federal crime, including real penalties for “straw purchasers”

They ask visitors to their website to sign a petition to President Obama (list building!) Keep in mind this is the same President who’s Attorney General oversaw the Fast & Furious scandal in which a US Border Patrol agent was murdered.

And if you’re wondering why I’m so angry about their hypocrisy, I’m a father whose daughter attends a high school where a crazed student threatened to kill her classmates. Fortunately, that student is now sitting in a Maricopa County detention facility.

“As Chairman of Arizona’s Republican Party, Robert will unite our party and raise the necessary funds for future Republican victories in this state.”

PHOENIX — Today, six-term Arizona Congressman Trent Franks endorsed Robert Graham for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party. Franks, who represents Arizona’s 2nd (soon to be 8th) Congressional District, is consistently ranked as one of the “most conservative” members of the U.S. House of Representatives, receiving high marks from Club for Growth, Gun Owners of America, and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. Congressman Franks was recently appointed to chair the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice for a second term.

Speaking on his endorsement of Graham, Franks said, “Robert Graham is a staunch defender of the Constitutional foundations of this nation. He is pro-life, he is committed to protecting the traditional family, he believes in a strong national defense, and he is an outspoken opponent of big government. Robert is also an exceptional business leader. As Chairman of Arizona’s Republican Party, Robert will unite our party and raise the necessary funds for future Republican victories in this state. I hope all my fellow Republicans can join me and my family in supporting Robert Graham for Chairman.”

“I am thrilled to have Congressman Trent Franks’ endorsement,” said Graham. “For decades, Congressman Franks has tirelessly worked to defend Arizonans’ rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am thankful for his example of leadership, for his counsel, for his friendship, and for his support.”

About Robert Graham

Robert Graham is a conservative activist and AZ business leader. He was a leader in the fight against taxes and the destruction of our party system, successfully working with the grassroots to defeat propositions 121 and 204. Majority Leader David Gowan, Speaker Pro-Tempore JD Mesnard, Rep. Justin Olson, Rep. Steve Montenegro, Maricopa County Chairman Rob Haney, and numerous Arizona conservative leaders have endorsed Graham to lead the Arizona GOP.

PHOENIX — ”With the exit of my friend, Tom Morrissey, from the race for Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, I encourage fellow Republicans to unite behind the candidacy of Robert Graham for State Party Chair. I worked with Robert to defeat Proposition 121, the Open Primary Initiative, and am confident in his commitment to Republican Party principles and dedication to future Republican Party successes. Robert’s ability to work with members across our Party’s spectrum is critical to uniting fiscal and social conservatives for Arizona’s benefit now and in the future.”

About Robert Graham

Robert Graham is a conservative activist and AZ business leader. He was a leader in the fight against taxes and the destruction of our party system, successfully working with the grassroots to defeat propositions 121 and 204. Majority Leader David Gowan, Speaker Pro-Tempore JD Mesnard, Rep. Justin Olson, Rep. Steve Montenegro, Maricopa County Chairman Rob Haney, and numerous Arizona conservative leaders have endorsed Graham to lead the Arizona GOP.

About Sonoran Alliance

Arizona's most popular and prominent political blog covering political news and events, commentary and information with a blatantly conservative worldview. We are an alliance of writers, activists, consultants and government insiders.